Jeff Cooper holds GOEA at Saltville with VDGIF truck decal.JPG Jeff Cooper with Golden Eagle captured near Saltville, Va on Clinch Mnt. (photo by Wallace Coffey) Golden Eagles are migrating down across North America and we will soon have birds wandering about our local mountains. This past Sunday, counters at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, PA saw 19 migrating Golden Eagles. That site now has a seasonal total of 91. Bake Oven Knob north of Germansville, PA, is up to 99, Stone Mountain, PA is at 66, and Waggoner's Gap west of Harrisburg, PA is at 150 Golden Eagles so far. Wednesday of this week, Jim Phillips had two Golden Eagles just 20 miles northwest of Roanoke, VA at Hanging Rock Migration Observatory, Monroe Co., West Virginia, He had an adult and immature a month earlier at the same site but that was before migration was well underway. Likewise, Jason Sturner reported a very brief look at a couple of eagles about the same date in Knox Co., TN near the Forks of The Rivers. The best places to see Golden Eagles In Northeast Tennessee are at Roan Mountain, Unaka Mountain and along the face of Iron Mountain in Shady Valley of Johnson County. Shady Valley is by far the most reliable and predictable place to see a Golden Eagle but not away from the highest mountains and the lower slopes. Birds have frequented the higher slopes of Hampton Creek Cove State Natural Area and the Roan Mountain State Park as well as Carver's Gap. The best places in Southwest Virginia are along the Clinch Mountains and lower farm lands in Russell County and Burke's Garden in Tazewell County. Several Golden Eagles can be found in the area west of I-81 in Washington County, VA in farmlands and up into the Clinch Mountain at Laurel Bed Lake and Hidden Valley Lake. The Grayson Highlands area of the Blue Ridge in Grayson County and at Mount Rogers are also very good. GOEA captured banded Grayson Highland St Park Feb 2012.jpg Bill Bassinger holds bird captured at Grayson Highlands State Park Wallace Coffey Bristol, TN